Jaylan Ford: Texas' defense in good hands and improving
The talk coming out of Texas football’s Spring drills was how far ahead the Longhorns’ defense was over the offense during the past six weeks. That dominating unit was split in two for the Orange-White game on Saturday – which was won by the White 21-10 – and did plenty to substantiate those rumors, especially in the second half.
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The White team scored all of their points in the first half before the Orange defense, led by Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year Jaylan Ford, pitched a shutout after halftime, allowing just 47 yards to the first team offense led by quarterback Quinn Ewers.
The Orange offense scored the second half’s only touchdown on a 79-yard pass from backup quarterback Maalik Murphy to freshman Johntay Cook II as he was being defended by walk-on defensive back Ja’Faar Johnson. Outside that huge gain, the White defense surrendered only 96 yards after the break.
Ford talked afterward about the progress of the Texas defense, who has to fill holes in the line and at linebacker.
“We did a good job getting to the quarterbacks,” Ford said. “As long as we keep that same tenacity and getting to the quarterback and stopping the run – those kinds of things – and keeping that same energy going into the season, is huge.”
Ford said he was stoked to see the improvement of freshman linebacker Anthony Hill, who is in a battle for playing time even as a freshman.
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“Hill was on the opposite team, so I didn’t want to celebrate him too much, but he did a great job.” Ford said. “He was off the edge and for him just to kind of get a feel for playing off the ball and on the edge was important. He carried himself well. He had a lot of reps. It was pretty big for him to just get his feet wet. And honestly, I’m really excited for how far he’s come since he’s been here and the potential he has to you know, continue to grow.”
The team will take a much-needed break between now and Memorial Day to recharge their bodies and minds but football does not reward those players that go too far with an absence of conditioning and discipline at the dinner table.
“It’s important though that just coming off of Spring everyone is able to kind of kick back and relax for a little bit – kind of get their mind away from football,” Ford explained. “College football has a lot of mental and physical work that goes into it so you don’t want to overwork yourself.
“Then there’s going to be a certain point during this break when we realize ‘I need to get back on my grind and, you know, I need to start eating right again. I need to start working now.’ It’s going to be big for everyone just to plan whatever it is for them just of manage the time about being off and also getting their body into or staying healthy and in shape.”
